02-11-2010, 09:41 AM
The cover up may be starting to unravel. [Emphasis mine.]
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/2089...-criminal-
Tuesday November 2,2010
By Richard Palmer
A FRENCHMAN who claimed to have held Princess Diana’s hand as she uttered her last words was exposed as a criminal yesterday, throwing his account into doubt.
Abdelatif Redjil was one of the first witnesses in the Alma tunnel in Paris after the 1997 crash that led to the death of the Princess and her lover Dodi Fayed.
The self-styled businessman gave a graphic account of how he held Diana’s hand and comforted her as she opened her eyes after her chauffeur-driven Mercedes had hit a concrete pillar.
He told investigators: “She repeated words like ‘My God, my God’. I tried to reassure her, telling her in English not to worry.
“She opened her eyes but she did not answer me, she simply continued moving her hand. I think she was unconscious. You could say that she was in a sort of comatose state.”
His entire story was thrown into doubt yesterday after his long criminal career was exposed.
Redjil, 54, a burglar whose skills have earned him the nicknames The Locksmith and Goldfingers, was jailed for five years with two years suspended in September for stealing two Picasso paintings worth £45million from the home of Diana Widmaier-Picasso, the artist’s granddaughter.
He escaped from the Paris courthouse moments after his conviction and stole thousands of pounds from cash machines while he was on the run.
Redjil, who is also thought to have masterminded a £30,000 bank robbery in February, was finally re-arrested trying to break open a cash machine in a Paris suburb.
[COLOR="red"]His part in the Diana investigation came to light during questioning. A police source is quoted as saying: “He gave evidence which has been reported as fact for years, but nobody knew anything about his life as a criminal.”
That raised questions about the competence of detectives in Paris, because in his statement to the French judicial inquiry into Diana’s death Redjil admitted he hesitated about coming forward as a witness because he was wanted by police.[/COLOR] “I elected to hang back,” he said in a statement also used at Diana’s inquest in London in 2007.
“I was wanted by the police and I was a little afraid that I might be arrested by coming forward.”
The Parisien newspaper reported: “He was very proud of having been called as a witness at the inquiries into Princess Diana’s death and boasted about it at his trial.”
The inquest pinned the blame for the crash on Diana’s driver, Henri Paul, who it said was drunk. But many people dispute the findings, claiming there has been a cover-up.
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/2089...-criminal-
Tuesday November 2,2010
By Richard Palmer
A FRENCHMAN who claimed to have held Princess Diana’s hand as she uttered her last words was exposed as a criminal yesterday, throwing his account into doubt.
Abdelatif Redjil was one of the first witnesses in the Alma tunnel in Paris after the 1997 crash that led to the death of the Princess and her lover Dodi Fayed.
The self-styled businessman gave a graphic account of how he held Diana’s hand and comforted her as she opened her eyes after her chauffeur-driven Mercedes had hit a concrete pillar.
He told investigators: “She repeated words like ‘My God, my God’. I tried to reassure her, telling her in English not to worry.
“She opened her eyes but she did not answer me, she simply continued moving her hand. I think she was unconscious. You could say that she was in a sort of comatose state.”
His entire story was thrown into doubt yesterday after his long criminal career was exposed.
Redjil, 54, a burglar whose skills have earned him the nicknames The Locksmith and Goldfingers, was jailed for five years with two years suspended in September for stealing two Picasso paintings worth £45million from the home of Diana Widmaier-Picasso, the artist’s granddaughter.
He escaped from the Paris courthouse moments after his conviction and stole thousands of pounds from cash machines while he was on the run.
Redjil, who is also thought to have masterminded a £30,000 bank robbery in February, was finally re-arrested trying to break open a cash machine in a Paris suburb.
[COLOR="red"]His part in the Diana investigation came to light during questioning. A police source is quoted as saying: “He gave evidence which has been reported as fact for years, but nobody knew anything about his life as a criminal.”
That raised questions about the competence of detectives in Paris, because in his statement to the French judicial inquiry into Diana’s death Redjil admitted he hesitated about coming forward as a witness because he was wanted by police.[/COLOR] “I elected to hang back,” he said in a statement also used at Diana’s inquest in London in 2007.
“I was wanted by the police and I was a little afraid that I might be arrested by coming forward.”
The Parisien newspaper reported: “He was very proud of having been called as a witness at the inquiries into Princess Diana’s death and boasted about it at his trial.”
The inquest pinned the blame for the crash on Diana’s driver, Henri Paul, who it said was drunk. But many people dispute the findings, claiming there has been a cover-up.